1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to dolls and methods of making dolls and, more specifically, to dolls having an image impregnated thereon and methods therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many different types of dolls, and similarly, there are many different methods for making dolls. Of particular interest are methods of making dolls having images thereon.
It is well known to take a photograph of the face of an individual and affix the photo to the face of a doll. This has been shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,199,049 which was filed in the name of Greenburg and entitled, "Changeable Figure Toy." In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,586 which was filed in the name of Benner and entitled, "Doll with Envelope for Photo Image Face, and Hair Concealing Envelope Opening", shows the use of a pocket or sleeve for temporarily storing a photo on the face of a doll.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,987 which was filed in the name of Hull et al and entitled, "Doll with Photo Image Face" shows a doll having a personalized, photographic face impregnated in the material of which the doll is constructed. The Hull et al doll taught the use of sublimation in order to impregnate the material used to make the doll. Using a matrix scanner, color photos were scanned for the three basic colors of yellow, red, and blue. Then a stencil was cut for each of the three colors. Using an offset printer, each of the stencils were then run through, using the sublimation ink corresponding to the color of each stencil. When a single piece of paper was run through the printer three times, the paper would have a coating of each color. The image would appear to be yellow at first, then as the paper was run through the red ink, the image would appear slightly rusty in color. As the paper was run through the blue ink, the image would appear more lifelike. By passing the paper through the printer three times, the overlay of the inks would be capable of attaining most of the colors of the spectrum. This approach has several disadvantages, namely, poor color reproduction and wasted time. More specifically, the color reproduction available from this process is far less realistic than the color reproduction offered by other methods currently available such as the use of a high quality color copier machine. In addition, using a color copier machine permits time savings because it is not necessary to run the image paper through the machine more than one time.
Therefore, there existed a need to provide an efficient method of producing dolls having an image or a plurality of images impregnated thereon.